This was a terrifying read. Even more so in that my eyes missed the first sentence, so that I was reading under the impression that this was a real event. With that said, clearly I believed that this could , and was now starting to happen. Sometimes when I meet with healthcare providers, I already feel like they have access a lot of this information, but are simply not empowered or inclined to share their thoughts on it. Thank you for sharing this.
This has been coming for a long time and we won't have to wait until 2030. My spouse and I pay $1800 A MONTH for full coverage healthcare, not a catastrophe plan, and yet we have a joint $10,000 deductible that has to be spent before insurance pays for ANYTHING, except for what they're legally forced to cover by the Obama ACA 2010, without which we would also have to pay for every single diagnostic charge before we could even START to be billed for any actual treatment options.
And this is considered "premium" healthcare coverage!
The upshot of it is we can't actually afford any actual healthcare and because of the length of time it has taken us to pay some recently past medical bills, our credit ratings have gone from 800+ to 650-700 territory, meaning we get charged higher rates for EVERY OTHER TYPE OF CREDIT and loan product.
So... when one of us has a medical emergency, and statistically, we're in the actuarial age bracket when that becomes more likely, we will have to choose whether to cash in our retirement or sell our house or go bankrupt...or die.
That's the America we live in, RIGHT NOW, not in 2030.
Anyone who thinks for profit healthcare in lieu of an actual national healthcare system dedicated to providing actual medical care (and dental, and vision, and mental healthcare, and end of life care) to actual human beings is either stupid, insane, or evil.
And I don't give two flying farts at a rolling donut who I offend. Our healthcare delivery system is a sick joke, a trauma inducing shared insanity, that makes the 1% richer and the rest of us sicker and deader. And if you vote for any candidate that doesn't support healthcare reform in the form of equitable healthcare for EVERY SINGLE MEAT AND BONE PERSON IN THE COUNTRY, then you're voting for fascists and you're voting fascistically.
Assuming we have an election in 2026/2028. I don't personally have any faith that we will, as I watch while governors across the nation preemptively call out militarized police tactical teams (soldiers trained to make war on the American people) or even national guard units (soldiers trained to make war on foreigners but now ordered to shoot American citizens) in advance of pro-democracy protests this weekend.
The American Tieneman may be less than 24 hours away, and with it a declaration of national emergency creating a permanent martial law status precluding the need for free and fair elections...or even ANY kind of elections...ever again.
What the author has described is current day practices in Veterinary medicine. Humane euthanasia is a common choice among families who cannot afford veterinary care.
The final piece is the underlying Ableism that is a steady undercurrent across all of society, not just the right. When you don’t value human life for just existing. When you need to have a job and pay taxes to justify your existence. Why wouldn’t they say pay as much as you can to convince us this life is worth saving. Because to us it’s worthless.
This was an awesome piece of storytelling all the way from beginning to its harrowing conclusion.
But then came the fact-sheet part: who, what, connections, intentions - at least those intentions that were made public (the very thought in contents of backroom discussions between people mentioned here sickens me). And one gets overwhelmed by sheer dread of possible realism that previous story might very easily become. IN. OUR. LIFETIME.
Remember when Neo wakes up in the movie the Matrix? He discovers that he and others are essentially kept in suspended animation, being fed and kept alive only to be drained to keep the machine, the Matrix, powered and operational. The US generally looks more and more like that over time. Each of its people connected to the larger system, kept just alive enough to be drained and keep the system fed and humming, including healthcare. This is powerful work that reads like prophecy.
There is no doubt that the scenerio you are describing is already here to some extent. Health care as it stands now is a money making business that only cares about profit. This must change if we are to survive!
Truly a frightening possibility. Sadly, not an unbelievable possibility. Time for a new New Deal. We need another FDR and solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.
The government wants to know why the birth rates are getting lower
And this is why I prefer paying a bit more in taxes to have universal healthcare. 🇨🇦
This was a terrifying read. Even more so in that my eyes missed the first sentence, so that I was reading under the impression that this was a real event. With that said, clearly I believed that this could , and was now starting to happen. Sometimes when I meet with healthcare providers, I already feel like they have access a lot of this information, but are simply not empowered or inclined to share their thoughts on it. Thank you for sharing this.
This has been coming for a long time and we won't have to wait until 2030. My spouse and I pay $1800 A MONTH for full coverage healthcare, not a catastrophe plan, and yet we have a joint $10,000 deductible that has to be spent before insurance pays for ANYTHING, except for what they're legally forced to cover by the Obama ACA 2010, without which we would also have to pay for every single diagnostic charge before we could even START to be billed for any actual treatment options.
And this is considered "premium" healthcare coverage!
The upshot of it is we can't actually afford any actual healthcare and because of the length of time it has taken us to pay some recently past medical bills, our credit ratings have gone from 800+ to 650-700 territory, meaning we get charged higher rates for EVERY OTHER TYPE OF CREDIT and loan product.
So... when one of us has a medical emergency, and statistically, we're in the actuarial age bracket when that becomes more likely, we will have to choose whether to cash in our retirement or sell our house or go bankrupt...or die.
That's the America we live in, RIGHT NOW, not in 2030.
Anyone who thinks for profit healthcare in lieu of an actual national healthcare system dedicated to providing actual medical care (and dental, and vision, and mental healthcare, and end of life care) to actual human beings is either stupid, insane, or evil.
And I don't give two flying farts at a rolling donut who I offend. Our healthcare delivery system is a sick joke, a trauma inducing shared insanity, that makes the 1% richer and the rest of us sicker and deader. And if you vote for any candidate that doesn't support healthcare reform in the form of equitable healthcare for EVERY SINGLE MEAT AND BONE PERSON IN THE COUNTRY, then you're voting for fascists and you're voting fascistically.
Assuming we have an election in 2026/2028. I don't personally have any faith that we will, as I watch while governors across the nation preemptively call out militarized police tactical teams (soldiers trained to make war on the American people) or even national guard units (soldiers trained to make war on foreigners but now ordered to shoot American citizens) in advance of pro-democracy protests this weekend.
The American Tieneman may be less than 24 hours away, and with it a declaration of national emergency creating a permanent martial law status precluding the need for free and fair elections...or even ANY kind of elections...ever again.
Bravo! a return to our storytelling roots is the only way to wake up the masses.
What the author has described is current day practices in Veterinary medicine. Humane euthanasia is a common choice among families who cannot afford veterinary care.
i would make failure to sterilize pets a 1st degree felony.
I'm sure they'd take the first $40k before saying that they wanted another $20k..
The final piece is the underlying Ableism that is a steady undercurrent across all of society, not just the right. When you don’t value human life for just existing. When you need to have a job and pay taxes to justify your existence. Why wouldn’t they say pay as much as you can to convince us this life is worth saving. Because to us it’s worthless.
they do it with pets at the veterinarians
What an absolute horror show! Riveting writing. I wish it wasn’t almost certainly true.
Wow…
This was an awesome piece of storytelling all the way from beginning to its harrowing conclusion.
But then came the fact-sheet part: who, what, connections, intentions - at least those intentions that were made public (the very thought in contents of backroom discussions between people mentioned here sickens me). And one gets overwhelmed by sheer dread of possible realism that previous story might very easily become. IN. OUR. LIFETIME.
Remember when Neo wakes up in the movie the Matrix? He discovers that he and others are essentially kept in suspended animation, being fed and kept alive only to be drained to keep the machine, the Matrix, powered and operational. The US generally looks more and more like that over time. Each of its people connected to the larger system, kept just alive enough to be drained and keep the system fed and humming, including healthcare. This is powerful work that reads like prophecy.
There is no doubt that the scenerio you are describing is already here to some extent. Health care as it stands now is a money making business that only cares about profit. This must change if we are to survive!
Terrifyingly well conceived and written. What fiction is for.
Masterfully written. It feels like a glimpse into a very real future.
Truly a frightening possibility. Sadly, not an unbelievable possibility. Time for a new New Deal. We need another FDR and solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.